Spent Fuel Storage And Disposal

This guidebook is a revised version of Technical Reports Series No. 240, published in 1984. It provides a summary of the experience and information in many areas related to spent fuel storage. It will allow a better understanding of the many problems involved and permit countries that are planning for or operating nuclear power reactors to review the issues in a more informative manner. In view of the large quantity of spent fuel discharged from nuclear power plants, long term storage is currently the primary option for the management of spent fuel. The proven wet storage concept is expected to continue to be used in the future. The design and the technological, economic and material problems of safe spent fuel storage will remain a focus of attention, with particular emphasis on dry storage technology, rod consolidation and other advanced concepts.

As part of a long-standing collaboration on nuclear nonproliferation, the National Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences held a joint workshop in Moscow in 2003 on the scientific aspects of an international radioactive disposal site in Russia. The passage of Russian laws permitting the importation and storage of high-level radioactive material (primarily spent nuclear fuel from reactors) has engendered interest from a number of foreign governments, including the U.S., in exploring the possibility of transferring material to Russia on a temporary or permanent basis. The workshop focused on the environmental aspects of the general location and characteristics of a possible storage site, transportation to and within the site, containers for transportation and storage, inventory and accountability, audits and inspections, and handling technologies.